The GnATTERbox

Want to talk about Sir Arthur Heywood's 15" gauge railways? About modern day minimum gauge lines? Have you found a minimum gauge line you've not seen mentioned on the website? Want directions to one of the railways that is mentioned? Whatever your interest in real minimum gauge lines, post your questions (and answer other modellers' questions) here.

Note the (toppled) stack of what appears to be portable railway track in a fairly narrow gauge (24" or less?) near the foot of the weir.

The site is the irrigation flumes/ditches of the McBryde Sugar Company on Kauai circa 1910.

I have also run across a photo showing the remains of some portable track used in the construction of the levadas on Madeira. I had run across irrigation flume or pipeline construction railways before (in Canada, Puerto Rico, the USA, Argentina and more) but not many using portable track panels of such narrow gauge.

Hi Chris,
I would be interested to see the Madeira Levada photo as use of any track in building these waterways would have been very limited.
Have walked them many times and the only construction details I can find are descriptions of workers being dangled in wicker baskets against rock face to chip away at rock by hand.
Many levadas pass through tunnels and you can emerge from one in a concrete channel with sheer drops on either side before entering yet another tunnel.
I have had a Tour Guide check the Funchal museum and there is nothing recorded about track being used in Levada construction.

There have been two steam railways on Madeira:
One used in the Construction of Avenida do Mar in 1888.

The other on the Funchal Monte Rack Railway.

Monte was connected to Funchal by the railway, which used to carry passengers between Funchal and Monte and further up to Terreiro da Luta at 867 m above sea level. The railway was inaugurated in 1893 and operated until 1943. A boiler explosion occurred in 1939 killing 4 people resulting in a loss of confidence in the system.
Talk a few years back of restoring it however part is now a road and the more effective solution, a cable car, now operates twixt Funchal & Monte.

The picture of the ogee tank narrow gauge loco is of great interest. It looks to have been built by one of the Scottish builders. Would it be possible to identify the contractor carrying out the road works?

hecla777 wrote:The picture of the ogee tank narrow gauge loco is of great interest. It looks to have been built by one of the Scottish builders. Would it be possible to identify the contractor carrying out the road works?

Regards

Not unless you fancy a trip to Madeira, I have spent hours searching web -nothing, even asked a tour guide about the Funchal museum & railways.
They aren't mentioned!

Found all these Martin whilst trying to locate anything about the building of the Avenida do Mar using an Industrial Railway. Problem is that most search results are from Brazil (same language) inspite of searching for Funchal Madeira. Have given up.